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cfcubed's avatar
cfcubed
Explorer
Jun 08, 2017

Plastic tote Portable 2000W Generator quieting box

Hi, first post to this forum. Having tent camped, then used a pop-up for a decade, find ourselves now towing a 27ft Airstream (which was to be a sailboat then an R-Pod:) Anyway now have occasional need for small generator to charge batteries during boondock trips more than a couple/few days.

Having gleaned info for years from this forum (& others) via web search hits thought I'd try to give something useful back.

Anyway, I found myself wanting to quiet down my already quiet Yamaha EF2000is. This after camping in a couple/few parks/campgrounds allowing generators but with mostly tent campers OR rules allowing only onboard generators. After lots of searching for a lightweight, portable, inexpensive solution decided there wasn't any ready-made & would have to make my own. This project could probably be adapted/modded for use with other 2000W class generators like Honda EU2000i & others.

See also UPDATE 06/30/17 09:23am post I built it in fall of 2015 have used it a few times since and been quite happy with the way its been working so felt it may be good & proven enough to document. I did so in Instructables "EF2000is Portable Generator Sound Deadening Enclosure Box" project (link removed). Here's a few pictures:









Stored for travel:


There's been a few somewhat similar projects around but I didn't find any like this one with powered ventilation, automobile hood adhesive-backed insulation, easy to tote around, etc. (<<< UPDATE: Oops, at least at this point in the size/cost/weight/effort/efficacy continuum - Thanks SoundGuy & others!) Maybe this will be helpful to others considering this sort of thing.

Chris

Standard disclaimers apply, you build this project at your own risk and take full responsibility for any consequences. This project directly violates product warnings and warranties and introduces possibly flammable materials in close proximity to the generator.
  • SoundGuy's avatar
    SoundGuy
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    cfcubed wrote:
    There's been a few somewhat similar projects around but I didn't find any like this one with powered ventilation, automobile hood adhesive-backed insulation, easy to tote around, etc.


    Mine's been online for several years now, pics & videos start here ... based on a very effective custom EU1000i quiet box designed by rv.net member jauguston back in 2006.
  • cfcubed's avatar
    cfcubed
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    Oops, right you are... Sorry, don't know how I missed those. Should know by now "new" ideas are super rare in theses internet days:) Well maybe my project's incarnation is different enough to warrant documenting.
    It's appears either less involved construction OR more involved construction compared to some others. And on the lower end as far as sound deadening/weight/size/cost goes.

    Well if other project links make it to this thread that's be swell.... IIRC they didn't come up in forum's default (1-yr) thread search.
    Thanks!
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    Both designs look like they will do a good job. Did anyone check them using a decibel meter?

    I'm curious how much the box will lower the sound from the generator.

    My Kindle will not play the video provided by SoundGuy so I don't know if the sound level has been checked with a meter.
  • cfcubed's avatar
    cfcubed
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    gbopp wrote:
    Both designs look like they will do a good job. Did anyone check them using a decibel meter?

    I did in a fashion using a pretty good iPhone app & posted pics of before/after walk around averages & youtube videos with sound for my walk arounds (in the Instructables project).
  • DutchmenSport's avatar
    DutchmenSport
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    Both look like they are very well done. Looks nice ... both of you! Well done. Amazing though, both are independent of each other, yet the final outcome is very similar! Good job!
  • SoundGuy's avatar
    SoundGuy
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    jauguston's discussion on the topic can be found here where you can also find a link to pics of his EU1000i quiet box. My own version was a budget version based on his design ... never did take sound level meter readings but 20' away, as illustrated in my videos, one could barely tell the genset was running at all. :B
  • profdant139's avatar
    profdant139
    Explorer II
    Jun 08, 2017
    cfcubed, thanks for posting your version of the sound box! I think your box is considerably less expensive than the alternatives, and possibly less bulky. I would guess that SoundGuy's box reduces the decibel rating somewhat more than yours does, but there is the issue of "diminishing returns:" if it costs twice as much to reduce the noise by another twenty per cent, is the expense worthwhile?

    There is no answer to that question. It is like driving a Mercedes -- the car costs a lot more than an ordinary sedan and is somewhat better. Is it worth the money? To some folks it is, and not to others.
  • cfcubed's avatar
    cfcubed
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    SoundGuy wrote:
    BTW, anyone seeking to maximize the effectiveness of any quiet box would achieve better results than I did by lining the box with this ***Link Removed***.

    Thanks - That's a great idea, I'd not thought of boat/marine insulations. Much more expensive than what I used BUT like most everything you get what you pay for, bet it'd be a big improvement. One doesn't know the full cost/impact of little compromises in projects until they've added up in the final product.

    WRT this project vs others like it - I'd bet other more robust ones are a whole lot more quieting. I hit what I was shooting for, inexpensive/small/light/not much fabrication & "good enough" for *my* uses. But you sure can still hear my gen from 20/30ft+ away.... (Must resist modding it w/West Marine stuff...)
  • SoundGuy's avatar
    SoundGuy
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2017
    cfcubed wrote:
    WRT this project vs others like it - I'd bet other more robust ones are a whole lot more quieting. I hit what I was shooting for, inexpensive/small/light/not much fabrication & "good enough" for *my* uses. But you sure can still hear my gen from 20/30ft+ away.... (Must resist modding it w/West Marine stuff...)


    Google Japanese genset quiet box designs and you'd be shocked at the lengths some of these people go to and how some of them dramatically reduce, in fact almost eliminate, generator noise. I've got a link somewhere and if I can find it I'll post it.

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